Intro:I’ve received the Pelikan Twist as a gift from a friend who had travelled to Germany. This wasn’t my first experience with the Pelikan Twist. A friend had liken it as a poor man’s Nakaya Dorsal Fin. I guess I can see the resemblance there but the price point are at different ends of the spectrums.

The Pelikan Twist is a beginner’s first fountain pen, that’s lightweight and durable. It is made of brightly coloured plastic with a moulded triangular grip. However, this cartridge converter pen is only available in either a F or M steel nib.

Performance:My Pelikan Twist has a bright orange body with a sky blue rubber grip. The entire body of the pen is triangular, that is slightly twisted. The 3 lines of the triangular body do not travel in a straight line from the top to the bottom of the pen. Instead it twists, hence the name of the pen.

The cap pops on and off easily with a click. The cap can be posted at the end of the barrel but don’t expect it to stay there. It is only loosely secure there at best. The rubber grip is smooth and nice to the touch. However the moulded grip is extremely opinionated. It insists loudly that there is only one right way to hold the pen. You either have to conform or suffer trying to shoehorn the pen to your own writing style. The triangular grip on the Lamy Safari is way easier to handle in comparison. I do not write with the traditional tripod grip and the grip section bothered me greatly. I wrestled with it everything I write. In the end, I was able to write with it but I was constantly rolling the nib inwardly as a result.

The Pelikan Twist is a cartridge converter. Pelikan uses the standard international cartridge and converter size. There is no shortage of standard international sized ink cartridges. When I had initially unscrewed the barrel I had hard time getting the facets to line up. Turns out, you have to twist the barrel close. You will feel it click into place when you finally get the barrel closed.

The Pelikan Twist came with a medium steel nib. It is a smooth writer but it is very much a wet nib. As a lefty, it is usable only if I fill it with a dry ink like Pelikan or Graf von Faber-Castell inks.

Conclusion:I enjoy the bright colour and the smooth nib that the Pelikan Twist has but I could really do without the harsh moulded grip. This is an interesting choice as a beginner fountain pen. If I had to learn how to grip a pen again, I might choose to do it with the Pelikan Twist. At least, I would be forced to do it correctly.